Transcript Ancient Egypt

Government/Social
Structure
Government
Pharaoh(God
-King):
absolute ruler
Vizier: chief
administrator
and advisor
Dynasty: One family passes
down the right to rule
Important Pharaohs
1st
Menes:
pharaoh;
United upper
and lower
Egypt
Cleopatra
VII: Last
Pharaoh of
Egypt
(Ended 30 BC)
(flourished c. 2925 BCE)
Ramses II: reigned for 66
years; built the Egyptian
Empire
Art and Architecture
Belief in the afterlife demanded:
1.
Bodies be interred whole
2.
Material goods for use in
afterlife be present
Egyptian Artwork
Stela (carved stone)
Notice, all people drawn
from the side – even when
looking right at you!
Writing
Hieroglyphics
Technology
Religion
Polytheistic
interaction with the natural environment shows interrelated gods
and goddesses yearly rebirth of Nile and daily rebirth of sun
- over 2000 gods
Horus
 Horus, god of balance and harmony
 maintained the natural order: the flow of the Nile and the fertility of the soil.
Osiris
 God of the Dead - “rebirth” - and
the weighing of the heart
 Evolution of Egyptian mythology
 known as a ruler in the Nile delta  a local god
 regional god.
Mummies
 Not known when it started in Egypt
 Perfected by time of New Kingdom
 How to make a mummy: 70 steps
 1) Removal of the brain through the nostrils 2) Removal of the
intestines through an incision in the side 3) Sterilization of the body
and intestines 4) Treating, cleaning, dehydrating the intestines 5)
Packing the body with natron (a natural dehydrating agent) and leaving
for 40 days 6) Removal of the natron agent 7) Packing the limbs with
clay or sand 8) Packing the body with linen (soaked in resin), myrrh
and cinnamon 9) Treating the body with ointments and finally
wrapping with a fine linen gauze, not less than 1000 square yards .
Why were the Egyptians so into
pyramids and mummies?
 The Egyptians were
obsessed with the cult of
the dead.
 They had elaborate death
rituals and gods.
 To protect the dead in the
afterlife and to prevent
robbers from desecrating
tombs, the Egyptians hid
their burials and placed
curses to warn off
violators.
Canopic Jars made of alabaster for storage of heart,
stomach, intestines and liver which were also treated
Mummy
Inner coffin
Second inner
coffin
Second inner
coffin lid
King Tut
How it all began…
“Death shall come on swift
wings to him that toucheth
the tomb of Pharaoh.”
These are the words written across the seal
of King Tut’s tomb in Egypt. When
this tomb was disturbed for the first
time in 3400 years by the English
Egyptologist Howard Carter in
November of 1922, newspapers around
the world announced the discovery.
Wait, who was King Tut anyway?
 Tutankhamun was an Egyptian king that is more
famous for his death than for his life.
 Tut began ruling when he was 8 years old, and died
when he was 18.
 Very few written documents on Tut survive and not
very much is known of his life.
 Most experts agree Tut died a violent death, but they
don’t know for sure if he was murdered.
 Tut is most famous because his spectacular tomb was
discovered, almost intact and filled with treasures, by
Howard Carter in 1922.
Here are some of those treasures!
Nice, aren’t they?
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2
010/09/tut-dna/tut-family-tree
Who were Howard Carter and Lord
Carnarvon?
 Lord Carnarvon was a
very wealthy man who
paid Howard Carter to
search for the tomb of
King Tut in Egypt.
 Howard Carter searched
for the tomb for five years.
 Their find became the
most famous
archaeological discovery
of all time.